My first rental disaster

[Ben Meddeb]

my tenant completely trashed my place, deposit will not even cover the junk removal service 

I called my insurance (USAA) the adjuster showed up and was very helpful : turns out Trashing the place is not covered BUT (blessing in disguise) I have water damage under the kitchen sink and the laminated floors/tiles walls , countertop  Etc needs replacing and I'm expecting a seizable payout 

My challenge : 

Does contracting with a property management company will help me avoid this scenario in the future ? (Previous tenant was a coworker :( ) 

Where can I look for good help to repair the place ? As I am already spending good amount to just remove the junk and fight a terrible roach infestation (I could use some advice on this too) 

[Steve Babiak]

Start by making sure you follow local landlord tenant law as to return of the security deposit. Even if you recognize that you will be keeping the entire amount, you must send the tenant an accounting of the expenses you incurred to which you applied the security deposit, and you must do so within a specific timeline or you could find yourself having to pay the tenant maybe double or triple the deposit as penalty for failing to comply with the law. If the dumpster and haul away fees are documented on an invoice, and that exceeds the deposit, then you don't have to go much further than that to account for where the deposit went. 

Now, with all that stuff left behind - was this an eviction, a midnight move out on the sly, or done with a notice to you in advance?  Because the tenant might claim that they left "valuables" behind, and that you took them ...